Quarries Work at Dorset Beauty Spot

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 230, 17 December 1927, Page 10

Quarries Work at Dorset Beauty Spot

Project at St. Aldhelms

LEGEND OF SAXON SAIN7

St. Aldhelms Head—St. Alban* cording to some erring cartogranh. * ' is about to be exploited for stor. I* 5 " that will be learned with lovers of I>orset and its rural h,' b ' : St. Aldhelms is the most s o m? U promontory of the Isle of PurWt W the very durability which has enabl.V to bid defiance to the wasteful seas = : prove its undoing. I: i s crowned Portland stone, mainland" Portia of excellent quality, vast in exu easy of access. Ever since the war boom in house construction h gan. attempts have been made to tain quarrying right, but the late rLj Eldon would permit no intrusion irthe sanctuary he maintained for L birds. At length, however, from *k new owner a lease has been obtain*! of the whole of the St. Aldhelms HeT Plain, and preparations are now bS advanced for its development. From the standpoint of local i dustry the project will be welcome The marblers and masons of have from time immemorial enjoyed reputation for craftsmanship wW made a market for their wares fror Salisbury Cathedral to the fan e I Durham. In the bad days before tK war only a few of the ancient cr men managed to keep the capstlgoing—they still resort to the denk*and capstan for hauling the stone uthe quarry lanes —but with the sube*. quent boom the hillsides are im. noisy with the clink of mallet anchisel Natural Beauty Spot The St. Aldhelms operations will, iis anticipated, mean permanent e» ployment for many workers. The lovers of Dorset scenery will noregard the development with equanimity. Situated half-way b* tween Swanage and Lulworth Cot* St. Aldhelms is the keystone of one o Nature's grandest coastline arches. To the east, jagged cliffs of Por;. land stone rise precipitously from th r sea, a rampart of grey crags, near. 200 ft in height, running right fros Durlston Head past Anvil Point. Dam ing Ledge. Seacomb Cliff, and Winsp. Then at St. Aldhelms there is a sudden change, and to westward the lightcoloured rocks give place to a wall of blackness. It is the Kimmeridge clay, whose inky hues add to the grimness of tk? neighbouring Egmont Point, and put t dark edging to the sea along th r Ledges, until beneath Gad Cliff, i; Kimmeridge strata dip beneath the ir clined Portland beds and are lost ir the sea. But whether the coastline be of rocof clay it is ever desolate. The line that emerges so precipitously from tfcsea continues to rise sharply, anc great downs edge the cliffs from Durlston along to Lulworth and beyond. Except for a coastguard station and watch tower —relics of tk* times when they watched anxionsly fo: Napoleon and his legions—you loo* in vain for habitation. There is no railway. and the road ends over thra miles away, so that the pedestrian alone can now reach the spot. No doubt with the road constructor that the quarrying will entail, tk* Head will become accessible to the motorist "nd charabanc proprietor. St. Aldhelm's Chantry To-day all you can see on the Head are the cottages of the coastguard am a chantry dedicated to St. Aldhelm. It is pleasant on a sunny day to lie os the soft turf and gaze across to the Isle of Portland. 15 miles across thr sea. But the Head is seen best trher a south-wester is hurling the wave# against the rock-fringed base *tid ; sendirig sheets of spray high up thwild nndercliff. The chantry is as remarkable in k‘ way as the promontory with which it shares the name of Aldhelm. According to legend, it is the church boilby the Saxon saint, who is various! remembered as the lirst Bishop of Sherborne—and, therefore, of Salisbury—and as the first Englishman to have written Latin verse. Some little time before his consecration. Aldhelm was visiting his estatr in Dorset, when he was delayed by ■o ;- trary winds, and to employ his him he started to build a chapel. Beuvthe edifice was finished, the Saiir found favourable winds, and the work was abandoned. For four centurie? the half-built cliapel stood without a roof. but. however severe the stone? not a spot of rain fell within the upon ground hallowed by Aldhelm So says the tale: but the sober vt.dict of archaeology is that the chaiitr dates only from Norman times, probably between 1150 and 12W In construction it is most curious, fo although it is only 32ft square, tr.vaulted roof of the building is borrby a massive pillar and four inier secting arches, strong enough to be tr support of a bridge. Perhaps tstrength of design is explained by tJ fact taiat while the interior was ae<h cated to spiritual purposes, the extent liad its secular use. The cross that now surmounts t.. building has, it is believed, fire cresset, and every night in stonr weather it would once have been - duty of the keeper of the climb the roof of the chantry to m tain the beacon.